Canning machine



Aug. 15, 1933. c. H. AYARs 1,922,143

GANNING- MACHINE Filed oct. 14, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Ehar1a'5H-Ayars W H15 A TTORNEY C. H. AYARS CANNING MACHINE Aug. 15, 1933.

Filed Oct. 14, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 em NM WITNESS Aug. 15, 1933. c. H. AYARS CANNING MACHINE Filed Oct. 14', 1930' 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Charles H.Ayars H15 ATTORNEY Aug. 15, 1933. c. H. AYARS 1,922,148

CANNING MACHINE Filed Obi. 14, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 WITNESS: I N V EN TOR EhE'HEEHJ YyETE BY Patented Augr 15, 1933 I um reo PATENT creme.

QAHNING MACHINE Charle H.- A ars Sal m J a s s r A r Machi e Co mie! S em 15-. a, Germrati a of New Jersey Application e at 1930. Serial N6. 488,515. 12 Cloims- 1., m mo This invention relates to canning machines, food materials in relatively liquidform, such as and has for an objec to provide an improved soups or the like, the problem has heretofore type of mechanism which shall-fill cans in'greatbeen to properly measure the material to introer numbers than has heretofore been accomduce into each can in the exact amount required,

plished. i l and to do so at'a speed which will be efiicient As in many other arts, the art of canning in accordance with present day standards. various materials constantly calls for greater, The present machine comprises a tank 10, or i l eater speed in the handling of the receptacle, of such capacity as will hold a sumcans, and the material to be put into the cans, cient supply of the material. Within this tank 10 and the structures at present known while et- 10,- a shell 11 is provided, such shell being set at ficient, are not sufliciently speedy for up-toan angle to the horizontal, so that the lower date requirement. The present invention, is edge of this inclined shell dips below the lowest therejore, more particularly directed to providpart of the tank 10,as shown at Figure 3. The ing a canning'machine which shall introduce, fill tendency, of course, of material introduced into and discharge cans at a greater rate of speed than the tank 10, which is provided with an inclined has heretofore been considered possible. 1 bottom 12, is to flow toward the shell 11.

An object is, therefore, to provide a tank in Within the shell 11, and fitting the samewith which the commodity to he canned is supplied, a close working fit, is a disk 13; This disk 13 is, with a rotating dipper provided with compartin effect, a solid disk, butfor obvious mechanical 20 ments adjustably arrangedto dip from the said reasons, may be cored out as shown at 1,4, such tank the exact amount for filling a can, and for coring being merely an expedient. introducing such measured quantity into a can About the perimeter of this disk 13, are prowhich is presented by the machine for that punvided a plurality of sockets having preferably pose. tapered, or converging lower extremities, as

25 The invention therefore, eomprisesa tank, or shown at 15. Preferably, these sockets will be receptacle, within which rotates, or dips, adisk screw threaded, and will receivesleeves 16 which having a plurality of compartments adjacent arecomplementarily screw threaded so that said its perimeter, with means for adjusting the casleeves maybe adjusted, for capacity, by rotation. pacity of the compartments, and an underlying This disk 13, is mounted upon a shaft 1'7, which 30 rotating mechanism fer taking in empty cans, extends upwardly through the bottom of the shell properly positiening them to receive the meas- 1-1 from a'pinion 18, by which the shaft 17 is ured material from theoipper, and discharging driven,.necessary collars, supporters, or the like, the cans for further processing by closing, and being provided as shown. the like, and at ahigh rate of speed. This -pinion is is driven by a pinion 19, which 5 The invention is directed to other objects and i tu receives p wer from the interc fl possesses other features of novelty and advanpin-ion 20, carried upon the rotating turret 1. tage, some of which, together with the fore- This turr t :2 is d iv n in any approved manner going, will be hereinafter more fully set forth. as by the shaft 22, and gear 23. The specific In the drawingszl a type of gearing is, .of course, unimportantto the 40 Figure 1 is ato plan view of the improved present inv nti n, and h s therefore, been sh wnos canning machine, in Figure 1 only in dotted lines, and is driven Figure 2 is a sectional view takendiagnetrically' from a pulley 2 3 to which power is a plied. The th o ksh the inne as m e of Fi p er 2: i o t s a t 4, om which i als 1. 1 l dr v n th Worms 2.5 nd-2.6 he atter beinc t e 45 Figu e s i w t n n the sam plane. wo n su p in th can to th mach ne an through h sli r a d as s o on afi egnthe tenr rbeirst e m wii dre in m 'larsed sca 1' l 7 tree; the ma e. Th s e h n ms i 1 4 i ie p n i r h pe an ply n th can and remo them ee t Fi ur 5 its p rs v view o th sp d mach ne a e n an no l. ut rm e ltb- $0 .fimn qlt fl I01 aera e varyin the c pa ity 9 Je t m tte of. m n in a c i n fi 11-05 the slippe 'cox par ms tseven at h r withtior Se i ri tle q Lire cha a ters of eferenc indi ate o rese al .8 9.- tw fi d a wa hinsand teas n spo ins arts th ough u severa ws mechanism Se l p- .8 .,5'17. and *w l m tethe ann ng o martini, are m r r te r not b ar cularly de c ibe il s erpliiicrla lyioodmotet atenr stilimerspa tiy larly se pa The turret 21, rotates immediately above a fixed table 2'7, about and upon which the cans 28 are rotated by means of can engaging devices 29, carried by the turret 21.

Rotating also with the turret 21, and impelled thereby, is an annulus 30, and an underlying annulus 31. Extending through the annuli 30 and 31, are a series of funnels 32 which are preferably interconnected at their upper ends, forming upstanding fianges 33 and 34. These funnels operate throughout the major part of their orbit beneath an annulus 35, which acts as a cover for the funnels to protect the same from dirt, and also assist in preventing slopping of the cans.

The orbit of these funnels passes beneath the higher peripheral point of the disk 13, and at such location, a conduit 36 is provided. As the mechanism is designed to operate at a high speed, this conduit 36, is so proportioned that it will extend through a circumferential arc equal to three of the sockets in the disk. It is obvious, of course, that this exact number is not essential to the invention, and may be increased or decreased as use may dictate. The bottom of the shell 11, immediately above the conduit 36, is provided with an arcuate opening 37 so that as the sockets in the dipper by rotation pass over the conduit 36, they will discharge their contents through the opening 37, and sufficient time is allowed by discharging into a plurality of these funnels to adequately drain the measuring cups, represented by the sleeves 16.

As pointed out, these sleeves 16 are. adjustable upon the screw threads to vary the capacity, but as an additional means, for varying the contents of said dippers to a nicety, a spider 38 is provided having a plurality of extensions 39 at the extremities of the arms. These extensions 39 correspond in number to the sleeves 36 of the dipper, and are formed with arcuate sides as shown at 40 (see Fig. 5) to fit with a close work ing fit against an arc of the sleeve 16, the opposite side, or that side extending within the sleeve being preferably plane, as shown at 41.

This spider 38, is mounted upon the shaft 17, by means of a sleeve 42, and is adjustable vertically upon said shaft by means of a screw 43, inserted axially into the shaft, having collars 44 and 45, engaging the end of the sleeve 42. A hand wheel 46 is furnished for making the adjustment by means of the screw 43.

Merely asa protector, and to prevent slopping, a shield 4'7 is provided arching over the upper area of the dipper disk. 1

In operation, the tank 10, is almost filled with material to be canned. For brevity, this material may be referred to as soup. The soup, being relatively a liquid, will naturally flow to the lower part along the inclined bottom 12, and into those sleeves 16, which are dipped into the lowermost part of the shell 11. supplied to'the machine through and by the feeding mechanism, represented by the worm 26.

When power is applied to the pulley 23, and

through the gearing shown, or other adequate power transmission, the turret 21 will be rotated, and through the gearing shown, or other adequate power transmission, the disk 13 and spider 38 will be rotated. It is obvious that the rotation of the disk and spider will continuously agitate the contents of the tank. The bottom of the disk 13, as has been explained, fits against the bottom'of the shell 11, with a close working fit,

so that the soup, already contained within the panying extensions 39, are provided.

Cans will be sleeve 16, will be carried thereby upwardly along the incline provided by the inclination of the disk until the particular sleeve is over the port 37, whereupon the soup, contained therein, will be discharged through such port, through the conduit 36, and into the underlying funnel 32, and thence into the can 28. g

It will be understood, that the feeding mechanism supplies these cans 28 in proper sequence to be received, and carried by the can moving mechanism 29, under this conduit 36.

As the disk 13 rotates, the lowermost cups will dip into the soup within the tank 10 and be filled, rotating therewith to the port 3'7, to discharge. The cans being filled, will be carried about the table 27, to the discharge mechanism, represented by the worm 25, and will be thereby moved to a position of further processing.

According to present business ethics, and in compliance with the food and drugs act, it is necessary that the cans shall be filled to capacity with great accuracy. While the proper amount may be secured roughly by the adjustment of the sleeve 16, it is obvious that such nicety of adjustment as required would be impractical, and for this purpose, the spider 38, and its accom- By the manipulation of the hand wheel 46, this spider, and its accompanying elements may be so moved as to adjust the capacity of the dipper cups to extreme nicety.

Of course, the canning machine, herein illustrated, may be modified in various wayswithout departing from the invention herein set forth and hereinafter claimed.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A canning machine comprising a tank, a rotating dipper having its perimeter dipping at one are into the tank and the opposite arc of its perimeter elevated over another part thereof,

meansto move cans in procession beneath the perimeter of the tank and the upper arc of said dipper, a plurality of funnels each positioned to direct material into an underlying can, and a conduit forming communication between the upper arc of said dipper and said funnels, and dis charging material from one dipper into a plurality of funnels.

2. A canning machine comprising a tank, a disk inclined at an angle to the horizontal with its lower edge dipping into said tank and its upper edge elevated over the perimeter thereof, measuring cupsin said disk, means wholly within the lines of the tank closing the bottom of said measuring cups throughout the major part of rotation of said disk, said closing means being provided adjacent the upper extent of said disk with a port spanning a plurality of measuring cups, and means to move cans in procession beneath said port.

3; A canning machine comprising a tank having a circular shell communicating therewith and inclined at an angle to the horizontal of said tank with the upper edge of its lower are depressed below the lowest point of said tank, a dipper disk rotating in said shell and having a plurality of measuring cups therein, the bottom of said cups being closed by the bottom of said shell, said shell being provided adjacent its upper arc with a port corresponding in extent to a plurality of measuring cups, and means to move cans in procession to present a corresponding number of cansv simultaneously beneath said port.

4. A canning machine comprising a tank having an inclined bottom, a circular shell formed in said tank at an inclination to the horizontal of said tank and having the upper edge of its lowest are below the lowest level of said tank, a disk mounted to rotate in said shell with a close working fit, said disk being provided about itsperimeter with a plurality of spaced measuring cups employing the bottom of said shell as a closure for said cups, said bottom being provided adjacent its upper arc with a port of an arcuate dimension equal to a plurality of said measuring cups, and means to position cans in procession beneath said port in number corresponding to the number of cups unclosed by said port.

5. A canning machine comprising a tank, a circular dipper disk rotating independently of and within said tank at an inclination to the horizontal with the lower are only dipping within said tank, said disk being provided about its perimeter with a plurality of measuring cups, a spider located above said disk and provided with plano-convex extensions inserted each into one of said measuring cups at the side adjacent to the axis of the spider and means to adjust the spider axially of the disk to vary the amount of said extensions included within said measuring cups. 6. A canning machine comprising a fixed tank, a dipper disk mounted to rotate upon an inclination to the tank with its lower arc dipping into said tank and provided about its perimeter with a plurality of internally screw threaded sockets, and sleeves inserted into said sockets and adjustable by the movement of said threaded interconnection to vary the capacity of the cups'formed thereby.

'7. A canning machine comprising a fixed tank,

a circular dipper disk journaled within and at an inclination to the tank and having the upper edge of its lower are below the bottom of said tank and its diametrically opposite are elevated thereabove, said disk being provided about its perimeter with spaced sockets, sleeves in said sockets having means for adjustment relative to said sockets to vary the capacity of measuring cups sleeves having threaded connection with said sockets and adjustable relative thereto to vary the capacity of measuringcups formed thereby, a spider having arms extending toward each of said measuring cups, an extension formed upon each ofsaid arms dipping into said cups wholly at one side of each, and means to adjust the spider.

9. A canningmachine comprising a tank, a shell having a bottom and upstanding sides, said shell being set at an inclination within the tank with the top of the upstanding side of its lower arc coinciding substantially with the bottom of the tank and its opposite are elevated thereabove, a disk rotating with close working fit within said shell, a plurality of sockets formed in said disk tapered at their lower ends, said tapered part bearing upon said shell and employing said shell as a closure, saidshell being provided with a port adjacent its upper are, means dipping into one side only of each of said sockets to vary the capacity thereof, and'manual means for adjusting all of said capacity varying parts simultaneously.

10. A canning machine comprising a rotating member, means for carrying cans in a circular orbit uponsaid rotating member, a tank fixed within the orbit of said cans, a dipper disk mounted to rotate at an inclination with its lower extent within said tank, and its upper extent above the orbit of the cans, and means to discharge material from said dipper disk simultaneously into a plurality of underlying cans.

11. A canning machine comprising a fixed tank, means to move cans in orbital procession about said tank, an agitator dipping into said tank and having a plurality of means to measure and transfer can filling quantities of material from the tank to a position over the underpassed can procession, and means to conduct said measured quantities from each of said measuring means to a plurality of the temporarily underlying cans. 12. A canning machine comprising a fixed tank, means to move cans in orbital procession about said tank, an agitator dipping into said tank and having a plurality of means to measure and transfer can fillingquantities of material from the tank to a position over the underpassed can pro cession, means to vary the measure of said quantitles, and means to conduct said measured quantitles from each of said measuring means to a plurality of the temporarily-underlying cans.

CHARLES H. AYARS. 

